Suryakumar Yadav: I am honest with myself, my numbers are ‘really bad’ in ODIs

Indian veteran spinner Suryakumar Yadav feels there is “no shame” in admitting that his performance in ODIs has been “really bad” and that he wanted to find a way to succeed in the 50-over format.

After his match-winning half-century in the third T20I against WI, Suryakumar said –

“Because we play a lot more T20Is, we know that we only need to express ourselves as per the situation. But ODIs are a format which we don’t play a lot of. And it’s a challenging format for me – if you lose early wickets, you have to take your time like in a Test; it is only at the end that you approach it like a T20.

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“If I am honest with myself, my numbers in ODIs are really bad. And there’s no shame in admitting that; everyone knows that already. You need to be honest with yourself; but then, getting better is also important.

Suryakumar Yadav has played 26 ODIs so far and averages only 24.33, though his strike rate is 101.38. He made scores of 19, 24 and 35 in the recent ODI series in the West Indies, and prior to that had been dismissed for three consecutive first-ball ducks against Australia in March.

Suryakumar further said –

“That is what Rohit [Sharma] and Rahul [Dravid] sir have told me that because I don’t play a lot of ODIs, I need to practice and think as to what I can do. I can take my time, and if I happen to be at the crease in the last 10-15 overs, then I need to think for myself as to what I can do for the team.”